NON-RENEWAL OF RE-ENTRY PERMITS FOR PERMANENT RESIDENTS

NON-RENEWAL OF RE-ENTRY PERMITS FOR PERMANENT RESIDENTS

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(Reasons): **

20.

Ms Audrey Wong Wai Yen asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of Singapore permanent residents who were unsuccessful in obtaining renewals of their re-entry permits in the past three years; and (b) what are the reasons for not granting these renewals.

Mr Shanmugam: Ms Wong asked about the number of Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) who were unsuccessful in obtaining renewals of re-entry permits (REP) in the past three years and the reasons for not granting renewals.

Over the past three years, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) rejected an average of about 2% of the REP applications processed each year. Some of the reasons for rejection include their prolonged absence from Singapore, their lack of gainful employment at the time of REP renewal, the lack of family roots in Singapore or in the case of dependent PRs, the loss of PR status of the sponsor. In general, there will be an assessment of the applicant and the nature of their activities in Singapore before a decision is made.

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